Gavin Newsom Issues Vaccine Mandate for Public and Private Schools

California Governor's Office via AP

Just two weeks out from the recall election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he will be signing an executive order requiring all students in the state – in public and private schools – to take the COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend school in person.

Advertisement

According to the LA Times:

Once in effect, students will not be allowed to attend classes in-person on campus without being vaccinated. Medical and religious exemptions would be available.

Under the governor’s order, unvaccinated students will have the option of enrolling in a fully online school, attending independent-study programs offered by school districts, or be homeschooled.

Great, medical and religious exemptions will be available – but who judges whether the medical or religious exemption will be approved by the school district? Will a student who’s had COVID and recovered be granted a medical exemption since they have antibodies?

However, as RedState Editor at Large Kira Davis notes, “homeschooling” as it’s generally understood is not really an option in California.

Advertisement

As Davis explains, California parents who want to “homeschool” have to register as a small private school. Theoretically, Newsom could attempt to apply the mandate to homeschool families, but since enforcement is up to each local school district, any attempt to mandate at that level would be a waste of time.

Continuing with the disingenuous propaganda, Newsom equates this new vaccine, which can only be given to teenagers under an emergency use authorization, with vaccines that have been around for decades and which prevent children from diseases that are much more dangerous and deadly than the Wuhan flu.

“This is just another vaccine,” Newsom said. The COVID-19 vaccine will join “a well-established list that currently includes 10 vaccines and well-established rules and regulations that have been advanced by the Legislature for decades.

The current regulations have been advanced by the Legislature, as Newsom notes, not by Executive Order. And, as mentioned above, this is not “just another vaccine,” and vaccines for chickenpox aren’t required of people who have had chickenpox and recovered.

Newsom continues to bypass the legislative process to enforce his will on the residents of the state – but not all of them, only those he wants to punish. It’s well known that many of those who oppose using their children as guinea pigs in a medical experiment voted to recall Newsom, and it’s obvious that he is punching back at those parents.

Advertisement

Among those that Newsom won’t punish, though, are prison guards. Just yesterday he opposed a vaccine mandate for that group.

Newsom’s order will allegedly (there is no copy of it on the state website yet) only require vaccinations for various age groups once full FDA approval is given. Magically, 90 minutes after Newsom’s announcement, the FDA set advisory committee meetings regarding COVID boosters and vaccines for children for October.

California teachers will have to be fully vaccinated at the same time their students are, which is a little surprising given that the union has vigorously fought against a mandate for teachers.

Newsom’s Executive Order could be on shaky legal ground, though, and is sure to be challenged in court. It creates a two-tiered education system in which unvaccinated students aren’t given the same opportunities as those who are vaccinated. They won’t be able to participate in sports, choir, band, theatre, debate, robotics clubs, film, and the list goes on and on. It’s likely that many families that are affected will choose to move out of the state – but how long is it until this insanity goes nationwide? Judging by the rhetoric coming out of the White House, not long. It’s time to gear up and fight.

Advertisement

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos